A Story About Thrax
by KandyHouse
Summary: Thrax falls into the alcohol, but Ozzy rescues him. Unfortunately Thrax has lost all his memories. An unidentified girl in Thrax's dreams says she can give Thrax back his lost memories, but who is she anyways?
1. Fall

Author's Notes: This is my first OJ fanfic, so if any of the characters are out of character you should tell me. Reviews are welcomed with open arms. Other then that I just hope you enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Thrax, Osmosis Jones, Drix, The Chief, Mayor Colonic, or Leah-or any other characters from the movie that I may have missed. Characters that I made myself-Ion, Iona, Vac Jones, and Thrax's mother (she never got a name, I'll have to think of one later) belong to me.

**Chapter 1-Fall**

Wind buffeted Thrax's face, his purple dreadlocks streaming through the air behind him. Ozzy was watching Thrax fall from the bit of glue that was left under Shane's eye. To say Thrax wasn't afraid would be a blatant lie. He was terrified. Everyone has fears, for Thrax his greatest fear was the fear of failure. But now he was experiencing a different kind of fear: the fear of dying.

He clawed madly at the eyelash he was stuck in, trying to yank out his trapped left hand. His especially long claw had gotten caught, and when the fake eyelash fell it took Thrax down with it. With so much wind tearing at him his trench coat shot open, the long flaps of his coat actually worked well for flight. To suddenly catch the air and fly up was possibly one of the worst things that could've happened though. Not only did he pull his left arm out of joint-it made a horrible popping sound as it was pulled out of its socket-, but he also managed to break his left wrist at the same time. Needless to say: Ouch.

Thrax was screaming this entire time of course. Mad shouts of terror and pain. Listening to them, Ozzy felt an odd surge of emotion go through him: guilt. He watched with growing unease as the fake eyelash finally hit the beaker of alcohol with an enormous splash. Then something happened that worried him even more: the screaming stopped. He couldn't believe he was even doing this, but he was. Ozzy twisted off as much as the glue he was hanging from as he could get. He started falling immediately.

Thrax was lying on his right side now, which left his left arm in a very awkward and uncomfortable position. He would have laid down flat like a board if he could have, but that would've twisted his out-of-joint left shoulder further. He felt the eyelash start to submerge, and felt the alcohol level rise up. A little less then the right half of his body was in the burning alcohol, but what was worst was what it did to his mind: Thrax could feel his thoughts just...vanishing. His emotions were unknown, even to himself. And his memories were completely gone. He felt like a blank book that someone was yet to write upon.

The pain in Thrax's side became unbearable and he tried once again to stand up. He was met with searing agony from his left arm-it refused to cooperate. He let himself fall back down into the alcohol, and was disturbed to find that the eyelash had sunk further. The alcohol came to a little over halfway up his body, mind you that he is still laying on his side. Darkness started to cloud the corners of his vision, and the last thing Thrax-or what was left of him-saw was the dim outline of a white blood cell approaching him. Then he went unconscious and limply relaxed.

Ozzy had taken the glue and stretched it in opposite directions. He ended up with what looked like a giant pancake. He'd grabbed two opposite sides of it and it acted as a parachute. Not a good one, but it slowed his descent enough that he didn't crash and die instantly. A few moments later he was on the fake eyelash and running up to Thrax. He was not in good condition. He moved over to try to get Thrax's claw out of the eyelash, but as soon as he even touched his left arm Thrax hissed in pain.

The immunity cop pulled out his weapon and put it on its lowest setting. He took precise aim and fired. Thrax's long claw was now a lot shorter, but at least he was free from the eyelash. Almost as an afterthought Ozzy bent down and picked up the broken off part of the claw. He gazed at its wickedly sharp point with unease, but dismissed the feeling. He slipped the claw into his pocket and spared it no further thought. Ozzy walked up to Thrax and picked him up by the waist-which seemed to be where he had received the least burns so it wasn't incredibly painful for Thrax. Now there was a definite problem: How was Ozzy going to get back to Frank? His worries were soon solved, though.

A helicopter with 'FPD' written on it in large letters was flying towards them. The white blood cell looked down nervously at Thrax, he had bad burns all over him. The copter landed and medical units rushed out. They gathered Thrax on a stretcher and a few helped Ozzy. Ozzy had some burns on his feet from running through the alcohol, but it wasn't serious. Thrax's condition was critical though. Once the two of them were on the copter they took off again. The pilot knew where Frank was and was taking them back, he had also told Ozzy that Leah and Drix were waiting in the hospital for him.

Ozzy was sitting away from the flurry of activity that surrounded the injured red virus. Doctors and nurses looked surprised at who they were treating, but helped him because it was their duty to do so. There were a few exclamations and questions that Ozzy knew he would have to answer himself, like:

"Isn't this the virus that infected Frank?"

"How did he land in alcohol-and doesn't this guy know better?!"

"This is the virus that started that fever, why are we helping him?"

"What's his name?"

These were all questions he heard often. Ozzy saw that they were going to enter Frank through the mouth and felt a rush of relief hit him like a wave: he was home and alive. That's when it occurred to him, he still had that chain! The DNA bead needed to get back to Frank. Now. But they were already landing at the hospital, and Leah was waiting there with Drix at the landing pad. Ozzy gave her the DNA chain, and she recognized its importance. Leah gave him a worried and curious glance, then ran off to put the DNA bead back where it belonged. Ozzy and Drix followed Thrax into the hospital. Well, it was more like Ozzy leaned on Drix while he stumbled along.

Some doctors that weren't busy helped Ozzy out too. They cleaned the burn wounds on his feet, applied some new type of healing solution that they had just invented, and bandaged them. Then they made Ozzy lay down and rest. They said to, "Stay off your feet for the next few days and just take it easy." Drix was there to keep Ozzy company too, but the big red and yellow pill was a little confused.

"Why did you save Thrax anyways?" he finally asked the immunity cop. Ozzy stared up at his friend and shrugged. His reply was confused-like he didn't know the answer himself,

"I just think it was the right thing to do."


	2. Visit at the Hospital

**Chapter 2-Visit at the Hospital**

Ozzy was released from the hospital the following day. He and Drix were honored at Cerebellum Hall. Ozzy was so blinded by the bright lights and fame that he managed to completely forget about Thrax. Ten days passed and Ozzy never paused to think about the red virus he saved. This conversation he had with a doctor over the phone though certainly got his attention, it went like this:

"Hello, Osmosis Jones?"

"Yeah, that's me."

"Regarding the patient you brought to us, he's awake and healing surprisingly quickly. We'll even take the bandages off in a few days! Anyways, when we mentioned you to him-and that you were the one who saved him-he seemed particularly interested in you."

"Really, why?"

"We didn't have any records of him before his severe injuries so we're not sure why either. I do have an important question to ask, though."

"Ask away."

"Did he have amnesia before his injuries, or did the fall cause him to lose his memories?"

"WHAT?! He can't remember? Anything?!"

"Apparently not. I think that is part of the reason he expressed interest in speaking with you. If you could come to the hospital...?"

"Of course, I'm on my way right now."

"Glad to hear it, he's really being quite insistent about it. The reference desk will give you his room number. I'll be waiting there. Oh, by the way, my name is Dr. Golg."

"Pleasure to meet you Dr., I'm leaving now. Bye."

"Bye."

Ozzy hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket and keys, and rushed out the door. Drix followed him and they both crammed into Ozzy's car. On the way Osmosis explained to Drix about the phone conversation. They reached the hospital quickly and hurried inside. The lady at the reference desk said that Thrax was staying in room 307. She pointed them in the right direction and they took off.

They met outside the room with Dr. Golg. The Dr. was an average looking red blood cell. He had gelatinous pinkish red skin and red hair that only added to the professional-but friendly-atmosphere that he created. He was wearing a white lab coat and was studying a chart when they arrived.

"Come in, come in. He's right here." Dr. Gold spoke-his voice passive and level-and he entered room 307. For a few minutes Drix and Ozzy just stood there and stared at Thrax. He had white bandages covering the right side of his body, and instead of his usual black trench coat he wore a white hospital gown. His long claw was still broken, but Ozzy fancied to himself that it had grown a little. Thrax also wore a cast over his left wrist since it was broken. Drix-being more observant of his surroundings-noticed a pile of Thrax's black clothes sitting inside the nightstand's drawer.

"Are you Officer Jones?" the red virus asked. Ozzy was surprised at the way Thrax sounded, he had lost his sort of whimsical way of speaking. He voice wasn't so defined as before. Also, he didn't sound malicious. Earlier you could listen to him and think: this guy is dark. Now though he just sounded average, like a regular cell. Ozzy nodded,

"Yeah. So, you can't remember anything?" the immunity cell asked. Thrax looked away suddenly and refused to make eye contact. The red virus had always seemed so sure of himself, it was an odd sight to see: him looking so insecure.

"Nothing, but you and he do seem kind of...familiar. Do you know anything about me that could help me remember?" Thrax spoke calmly, like he didn't want to seem threatening.

"Well..." now that Ozzy thought about it, he really didn't know anything about Thrax. He didn't know of any family, friends, or associates. And was telling this amnesia stricken Thrax a good idea in the first place? Did they want him to go back to being the Red Death virus? Thrax saw the hesitation in Ozzy. The uncertainty. Not a good sign.

"Your name is Thrax." Ozzy finally settled on something simple. Thrax nodded and shifted a little on the bed.

"Thrax...I like the sound of that." Thrax rolled his name off his tongue. And another small piece of the puzzle had fallen into place for Thrax.

"I take it we weren't close." Thrax assumed. Ozzy smiled sheepishly and Drix nodded. Thrax continued, "I still thank you for saving my life, Officer Jones. I am in your debt."

Ozzy shrugged, "It was nothing, but I'll hold you to your debt." An awkward silence encompassed the room. Dr. Golg decided he might be the cause of this-and didn't want to be a bother to them-so he quietly excused himself from the room. As the door closed Thrax did seem to relax.

"The people here are too nice, but I always feel odd when I'm around them. It's like I shouldn't be here at all, like I would never be here at a hospital if I had my memories back." Thrax explained. Drix suddenly sympathized with the red virus and had a 'great' idea,

"When your well enough to leave, why don't you stay with us for a few days? We may be able to help jog your memory by taking you to places you've been before." Ozzy glanced at his partner, was this a good idea? Ozzy nodded though and smiled 'reassuringly'. Thrax flat out stared at them like they had just grown another head.

"Why would you do that for me?" he asked finally. Drix answered levelly,

"It is the right thing to do."


	3. Release and Unease

**Chapter 3-Release and Unease**

It was four days later when Thrax was well enough to leave. They had removed the bandages that covered his right side and he looked good as new. His shoulder was back in place, but he still had the cast on his left wrist. Fortunately it didn't inhibit Thrax's actions too much. Ozzy and Drix came by and took him with them when they left. Thrax wore his gray turtle neck sweater, his black pants and shoes, and his black trench coat that was mildly violet on the inside. They walked into the parking lot and all three of them crammed into Ozzy's car. Thrax was in the back seat.

Presumably they were going to Ozzy's apartment, but Thrax could only imagine where that would be in such a large place. He was continuously asking questions: What's that? Why does that work? Why are those cells doing that job? What is this place called anyways?

They answered his questions accordingly, but were very happy to reach Ozzy's apartment. They all clambered out of his car-actually Thrax kind of slipped out the window in a weird but graceful way. Ozzy's apartment was rather messy, but on some strange impulse Thrax started to clean it. Papers were stacked on the desk, every crumb of food on the carpet went into the trash can, any movies or video games went inside the cupboard next to the TV, etc.

"No offense, but this place is a mess. Why don't you keep the place where you live in better condition?" Thrax asked innocently. Ozzy shrugged. Truth be told the place wasn't clean because he was to lazy to keep it clean. Thrax wouldn't be satisfied with that answer though and he continued to pick things up and arrange them.

Ozzy and Drix-without realizing it-were staring at Thrax as he moved about the room. He was acting so different. For example: The Thrax that still had his memories intact sort of swaggered, not merely walked. And he seemed to kind of swing his shoulders back and forth while he moved. Plus, Ozzy thought he had heard Thrax humming the 'Fever' song once or twice. This new Thrax didn't act like that at all.

Thrax had pretty much cleaned the living room up in half an hour, and he had moved onto the kitchen. The kitchen was filthy. Thrax was rooted to his spot in the middle of the room while he spoke,

"Surely it is simply safer to keep the area where you prepare food for consumption clean?" Thrax asked, sounding incredulous about the state of 'the area where you prepare food for consumption'. It gave Ozzy an idea.

"Why don't we go out to eat tonight? There's a cafe down the road like, two blocks away. Come on, we'll just walk over there." Ozzy said. It appeared that it was settled as Drix turned and left the room, Osmosis Jones following behind. Thrax followed reluctantly and put a few dishes away before he left.

For the record, it was a horrible idea. The walk started out fine until cells started to notice Thrax. They peeked out of windows and doors and stared at the red virus. People that were on the opposite side of the street whispered to each other. They were in a neighborhood like setting, so it seemed like everyone knew everyone else. This made gossiping easier. Thrax hovered inbetween Ozzy and Drix-Drix to his right, Ozzy to his left. It seemed like he wanted to be close to both of them at the same time. The whispers became clearer to Thrax, they made him slow down and eventually stop.

"Isn't that the virus that was causing all that trouble?"

"Why isn't he in prison?"

"He's dangerous, he shouldn't be roaming the streets!"

"I thought he died!"

"What if he tries to start another fever?"

"He shouldn't be here, but how can we get rid of him without being killed?"

"He disgusts me!"

"He should have never existed, we must eradicate all viruses from the body of Frank!"

"Maybe that hero cop-Osmosis Jones-is gonna-hehehe-'take care' of him!"

The words were like blows to Thrax and he felt tears gather in his eyes unexpectedly. He shut his eyes tightly and refused to look at the cells that were being so harsh. Ozzy and Drix noticed that he wasn't between them anymore and turned around to see him standing there. It was then they noticed the gathering crowd around them of upset and curious cells. Thrax suddenly came to life, rushed forward, grabbed Drix and Ozzy by their arms, and took off down the street. He dragged them along until they came to the first alley he saw, then he pulled them into it.

The alley was dingy, and a few trash cans had been tipped over. Thrax leaned against the cold wall of the alley and breathed deeply. So many people were staring at him, watching him, analyzing him, making judgements before they had met him. He could feel their gazes boring into his back uncomfortably.

"You know what the worst part is? I will be punished," Thrax said it like a certainty, like he absolutely knew it for sure. He continued after a pause, "for doing something I can't even remember." Ozzy spoke,

"We won't let that happen to you." he tried to say it with as much conviction as possible, but he still sounded unsure. Thrax shook his head for a moment and stared off into space.

"I think this has happened to me before, in a different place. A different...body." Thrax said quietly. He sighed and slumped against the wall for a moment, looking much shorter then he actually was, and then straightened.

"So now what?" he asked. Ozzy and Drix turned to look at each other.

"We could still go to that cafe..." Ozzy ventured. A quick panicked expression flit across Thrax's face in the shadows.

"Will there be other people there?" he asked uncertainly.

"Or we could just go back to Jones' apartment, I do know a few recipes I could cook." Drix offered. Thrax seemed to like that idea more, but there was a problem.

"Does that mean we must go through that crowd again to reach the apartment?" Thrax asked unhappily.

"It's the quickest way, but we could take a less crowded route if-" Ozzy started, but Thrax interrupted him,

"The less people the better, let's go." the red virus walked cautiously out of the alley. The crowd was a ways off and seemed to have dissipated partly. Ozzy motioned for Drix and Thrax to follow him as he turned right and walked off.

The route they took was uncertain. Things like 'short cuts' set them back half an hour. Thrax felt like a rat trapped in a maze and tried to hide his unease. Finally-after what felt like ages-they reached the apartment building and went in through the back door. Thrax practically hurtled himself into Ozzy's apartment and disappeared from sight.

When Ozzy and Drix came in they found Thrax vigorously cleaning in the kitchen. Drix helped him too, the idea of cooking with this much clutter around him was unsettling. They had the place rather clean in a bit and then Drix ushered him out of the kitchen. Thrax looked like a puppy that had been locked outside in the cold to sleep. Ozzy showed him around the small apartment and Thrax kind of cleaned as they went. Thrax would stay with Ozzy for a few days, then with Drix-who had his own apartment above. For now though he would sleep on the coach.

The tour ended with them both waiting in the living room for Drix to declare that the food was ready. Thrax was about to fall asleep on his feet when said declaration came. The food that had been prepared was indescribable. It had numerous colors and textures, but it tasted good overall. All that really mattered to Thrax was getting the food, honestly he would've eaten anything whether it was disgusting or not.

After supper Thrax barely had time to remove his shoes before falling on the couch, asleep. Ozzy and Drix relaxed a bit when they saw him sleeping. Drix took his leave and went upstairs a ways to his apartment and Ozzy went to his bedroom and slept. Meanwhile, Thrax was having a rather unusual dream:

**Thrax's dream**

He woke up and stood groggily. He was stretching when he stopped in midmotion, there was a small figure infront of him.

"Uh, hello?" he asked hesitantly. The figure spun around to look at him. It was a she virus, and she appeared to be seven or eight years old physically. She was blue colored overall and looked startlingly like Thrax.

"Hello. It's a joy to see you again Thrax, after so long a time." the words the small girl spoke seemed too mature and intelligent for her age.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember you." Thrax said quietly. The girl beamed at him and took his hand.

"Walk with me for a bit." she commanded. Thrax followed behind her, but found it increasingly strange that she would be the one to lead him, and not the other way around.

"I understand you've lost your memories, I'm here to help you. I was a person from your past, but I am no longer living. I am a memory." she explained. Thrax nodded and gestured for her to continue. He wasn't sure where they were walking to, but he knew they would get somewhere. The background seemed to shift constantly around them. One moment you were standing on a swirly green colored floor, the next moment said floor was blue with red blotches.

A bench suddenly appeared infront of them. She gestured for him to sit and he did so. She remained standing and facing him. Now that they were more at eye level he got a better look at her. Her eyes were the common virus eye color-yellowish green. Her tentacle-like hair was an average blue. It framed her youthful pale blue face nicely. She smiled at him kindly, then reached out and touched his forehead,

"I'll let you a remember a bit at a time, so you can adjust to the information you receive. Now, remember when you were born..." she said levelly, then closed her eyes.

Images and pictures flashed through Thrax's mind, people that he couldn't ever remember meeting surrounded him. She removed her hand after a few seconds and spoke,

"You will remember the events as you would a real memory when you awake. The next time you dream you can talk to me about it if you'd like to. And believe it or not you've been asleep for hours now, so wake up!"

**End Thrax's Dream**

Thrax's eyes popped open. It was precisely 7:30 am. On the dot. He yawned and sat up, then slipped his shoes on. He could remember being born. He was sure most cells memories weren't this good as to remember their childhood, but he could. He could recall being born in the house that he lived in. The Virus Protection Program had some officials there to help out. He knew his mother's face: kind, playful, and beautiful. It seemed that he inherited his mother's purple hair. His father remained an enigma though, hidden in the shadows. He couldn't recall what he looked like.

He was up and working in the kitchen quickly. He searched and managed to find a loaf of...just what was this bread made up of? Jell-O? He shrugged it off and put one slice in what he thought was-and thankfully is-the toaster. He searched the cupboards until he found something that he thought was jam. He tasted a bit of it and found that it was sugary and it smelled sweet. The 'toast' popped up suddenly and he jumped. He finally found a knife and spread the 'jam' over the 'toast'.

Ozzy stumbled down the hallway sleepily. He could smell something but couldn't identify it. Then he noticed Thrax in the kitchen, staring off into space.

"Good morning!" Ozzy said loudly. Thrax practically leapt out of his chair and hit the ceiling. He breathed a sigh of relief that it was only Jones.

"Someone's jumpy this morning." Ozzy observed while he went about the kitchen, searching for something. Thrax just sighed and continued eating. Ozzy was getting increasingly frustrated,

"You two rearranged everything! I don't know where anything is now!" the white blood cell said, frowning. Thrax seemed to get immediately defensive over the cleaning the kitchen had received,

"Yeah? What are you looking for? I bet I know where it is." Thrax said, sounding confident. It was that tone in his voice that made Ozzy hesitate before speaking,

"Milk and cereal box." he answered. Thrax stood up and went to one of the kitchens. He opened it wide to show three different kinds of cereals. He went to the fridge and opened it up, then reached towards the back of it and pulled out a jug of milk, and to top it off he opened a drawer and pulled out a spoon. Ozzy stared at him,

"How did you know where all this was?" he asked. Thrax shrugged and sat back down to finish off his toast.

"When you're the cleaner you sort of pay attention to where you put things." he said absently. Ozzy sat across from him at the table and started to eat his breakfast.

"Look, Drix and I have to go to work..." Ozzy started.

"Oh yeah..." Thrax had an odd look on his face, one of...disappointment? He continued, "I suppose I could just lay around here all day." he suggested-already hating the suggestion he made. Ozzy could tell that the red virus infront of him definitely didn't want to stay here all day. Letting Thrax come with them though seemed like a very bad idea.

Drix entered suddenly with a friendly greeting. Thrax seemed to tense a bit at the cold pills presence, but neither Ozzy or Drix noticed this. Thrax became increasingly quiet until he just stood up, brushed off crumbs that weren't on his black trench coat, and walked off. His hosts glanced at him before resuming their discussion.

Thrax leaned against a wall in the hallway and tried to shrug off the irritated feeling he got when Drix was near him. He glanced down at his left hand, which was still in a cast. He held it up so that he could see his broken claw clearly. He stared at it and didn't notice Ozzy who was watching him anxiously. Finally Thrax sighed and let his hand drop to his side. He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

"Thrax? What would you like to do?" Ozzy asked. Thrax could see his mother's face clearly as she looked at her newborn son with joy. A feeling of warmth spread over Thrax until he was smiling. He turned to face Jones, aware of their difference in height.

"I don't want to be an extra burden. I'll just stay here, on one condition." Thrax said levelly. Ozzy gazed at him curiously,

"What?" Ozzy asked as he looked up towards Thrax.

"You come here for lunch break." Thrax said evenly. Jones almost smiled: was Thrax afraid of being lonely? He didn't ask this though, just nodded.

"Alright, Drix and I are leaving. See you at lunch." Jones briefly waved before departing, his cold pill partner following right afterwards. Thrax walked over to the couch and lay down again. He wasn't going to get in extra sleep just so that he could get his memories back quickly: one step at a time. He thought about his father and tried to remember anything, but got nothing. He quickly became bored.

He walked through the apartment and continued his cleaning. He decided that leaving Jones' room alone was probably a good idea. He cleaned the bathroom quickly, but found a greater challenge in the dreaded closet. There were so many cleaning supplies in there, but almost all of them were unopened. He smirked, a genuine Thrax smirk of satisfaction, and grabbed some of the supplies. He mopped floors, washed mirrors, did the laundry, did another load of dishes, he became so bored that he even cleaned the ceiling!

He had cleaned everything but Jones' room. He felt the strong desire to go in there-wielding a mop, a bucket of warm water, soap, and other useful stuff-and just clean out the whole room. He glanced at the clock on the wall: it was only 10:00 am. Lunch would be at noon. Two more hours. Of. Boredom. He gave in to his urge, grabbed a bunch of cleaning stuff, and marched into Jones' room.

First gathering all the clothes off the floor-and assuming it was all dirty-he piled it infront of the washing machine to remind himself to do another load. He picked up all the papers and files and records and stacked them neatly-he also organized them alphabetically-on the desk that was in the room. He put all the books he could find on a shelf that was covered with knick-knacks. He arranged said knick-knacks on top of the books. He found quite a few pictures of a white blood cell female, they all had the name 'Leah' written on them. He put them on the stand next to the bed. He made the bed-and vowed that he would wash the blankets, pillow case, and sheets too.

He found all kinds of weird junk that he couldn't identify, so he stuffed it in cardboard boxes and stacked them neatly in Jones' closet. When he checked under the bed he was shocked by all the stuff he found. Rotting meals, shoes that no longer fit, tons and tons and tons of old magazines. He promptly sorted through it all and threw out the expired food. He vacuumed the carpet, washed the window that was in Jones' room, washed the desk, stand, and shelves in the room, and used one of those puffy feathery things to clean dust out of hard-to-reach places. He went to Jones' dresser, took out the clothes that was in it and refolded them all. He categorized it too: Shirts in the top drawer, pants in the middle drawer, socks and jackets in the bottom drawer.

The room was clean. And there were only twenty minutes left 'till Drix and Jones came back. He decided to vacuum all the floors again and did another load of laundry. He was sitting in the living room-folding clothes-when Jones, Drix, and the person he recognized from all the pictures in Jones' room: Leah walked in. She stared at him for a while, and Thrax got a strong sense that he knew her from...somewhere. Thrax broke the silence and stood up,

"A pleasure to meet you, miss...?" he searched for her name.

"Leah." she said simply and continued to stare at him. Thrax felt very uncomfortable, so he tried to start a conversation that would take the spot light off himself.

"Jones, I hope you don't mind, but while I was incredibly bored I sorta...uh...cleaned your room." he said hesitantly. Jones' expression was priceless. He rushed down the hall and when he reached his room he screamed in horror. Thrax smiled at this, then sat back down and continued to fold clothes. Leah hadn't reacted to Jones' scream, but she did when he noticed his expression when he came back.

"It's spotless. Clean. Neat. Tidy. How did you do that?" Jones questioned Thrax. The red virus shrugged absently and didn't make eye contact. He'd gotten down to the socks and was having a hard time finding a match for any of them.

"To be honest I had to resist the urge to torch the room and just burn up all the trash I saw. And don't you have even one pair of matching socks?" Thrax asked, sounding frustrated. He stood up suddenly and shoved a large pile of white shirts, black and brown jackets, and black pants into Jones' arms. Thrax briefly considering ironing the clothes the next time he got this bored.

"Put those away. And I don't mean throw them on the floor. I mean put them in your dresser. In this order: Shirts in the top, pants in the middle, socks and jackets in the bottom drawer." The three that had come here for lunch stared at him curiously. Thrax felt the need to defend himself,

"What would you have done? Just lay on the couch for five hours staring at the ceiling?" he questioned. They all glanced up at the ceiling to notice it had been cleaned too. Leah started to laugh and she smiled. Thrax felt some of the tension melt away and felt relieved. She spoke,

"I've only tried to clean this place out once before. I gave up after two hours!" she exclaimed. Thrax crossed his arms infront of himself and allowed a small smile to grace his features. Jones headed obediently to his room and stored his clothes in the dresser according to the pattern.

Meanwhile, Drix and Thrax were making lunch in the kitchen. Thrax had to take a crash course on what all the stuff was since he could only recognize a few of the foods, but Drix was a patient teacher. Thrax made no lunch for himself, and while Leah, Drix, and Jones ate he melted silently into the shadows of the unlit hallway.

The three left-after searching out Thrax and saying goodbye. The silence of the apartment was welcoming to the red virus. He sat back down and randomly put socks together just for the sake of it. He put them back in Jones' room and he finally had absolutely nothing to do. He could feel the boredom start to set in. He finally settled on the couch and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels quickly, his scanners set to anything having to do with the fever he'd heard about.

The news channel said that the repairs on the city were going well, and that they had elected some guy called Colonic for mayor. He flipped through the channels, not even paying attention to what was on anymore. He finally just turned it off and stared up at the clean ceiling. The awful stench that Drix left-wild cherry flavor- was really starting to bug him. He rolled off the couch, went to the bathroom, and found some kind of air freshening device. He couldn't understand why Jones had so many cleaning supplies but never used them. He plugged the air freshening device into a socket on the wall.

With nothing else to do he went to the kitchen. He stopped as he realized he was about to eat just to stop the boredom. He shook his head and walked out of the kitchen-not looking back. To pass time Thrax decided to count to a billion. He finally returned to Jones' room-numbers still ticking in his head-and started to read all the papers he'd found on the floor. They were mostly reports on past cases that had probably had some relevance once upon a time ago. Now though they were just rather dry reading.

One report that he found though was intriguing. It showed a young virus with dark red colored skin. He looked a lot like Thrax did, and they shared an important trait: the very long claw. Except this virus had his claw on his right hand. He read the paper with interest. This virus's name was Ion and he-apparently-had tried to destroy the body of Frank about four years ago. He'd gone for some gland in the brain that Thrax couldn't even pronounce. Apparently he used the brain gland as a distraction, his true goal had been the eyesight. He'd wanted to blind Frank. He only succeeded minimally, because the report said that at the end of the whole fiasco that Frank just had to wear contacts. It also said that Ion had been killed by an officer on the scene.

He chose a book off of the shelf at random and started reading. Unfortunately for Thrax, the book he chose was the dictionary. He committed himself to reading it though, like he had anything else to do. An hour later he had gotten to the 'I' section. He closed the heavy book with a slam.

"I'm so bored!" he shouted to no one in particular. He shoved the book up onto the shelf and laid back down on the couch. And he was on 73,904,528 in his count to a billion. At least the awful 'wild cherry' smell was gone now. Needless to say the hours passed very slowly for Thrax. When Jones finally got back he was relieved. Someone to take away the boredom. Jones seemed stressed though so he let him be, even though he was dying to talk to someone to end the mind numbing, dull, bland boredom he was experiencing.

Jones seemed oddly silent and tired for the rest of the evening. Thrax didn't bother speaking to him, so his boredom remained. He'd reached a billion a long time ago, and was now going for a trillion. He was laying on the living room floor instead of the couch, and had his arms and legs spread out like he was making a snow angel. He didn't want to annoy, whine, or bother Jones, but he was getting incredibly bored. Finally, he made himself known,

"Bored, bored, bored, BORED!" he said loudly. Jones appeared around the corner and smiled at him.

"Guess where we get to go tomorrow?" Jones asked suddenly. Thrax sat up and stared at him with his bright yellow eyes.

"Where?" he asked curiously.

"To the hypothalamus. Yes, I finally said that right." Jones said happily. Thrax continued to stare at him unblinkingly.

"I know this one...it was in the dictionary. Hypothalamus: otherwise known at the master gland, it's above the brain stem and below the thalamus, it controls temperature, hunger, thirst...and um..that's about all I can remember." Thrax recited what he could remember from the entry in the 'H' section of the dictionary. He watched Jones carefully, "Why are we going there?" he asked.

"You tell me." Jones countered. Thrax concentrated. There had been a fever right? Hypothalamus controls temperature...they were going to the hypothalamus to jog his memory. Thrax realized that he had started the fever by using the hypothalamus. He'd obviously done his homework before he lost his memories.

Jones pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. It had official looking typing on it, and Jones' signature on the bottom. Thrax glanced it over briefly before looking to Jones for an explanation.

"This is a permit to allow us entrance. This is your copy." Thrax stood up and walked over to Jones. He took the paper carefully with his clawed hands and read it fully. Parts of the paper seemed ridiculous.

"No touching anything with the left claw?" he asked aloud-it was one of the conditions on the paper. Jones glanced down to Thrax's broken wrist. The red virus lifted said wrist and examined his broken claw. He concentrated on its essence, the burning heat he felt inside himself. He pushed it towards his claw hesitantly. His broken left claw started to glow a bright orange and Thrax stared at it curiously.

"I guess I understand that." Thrax mumbled as he let the fire leave his claw. The orange glow slowly subsided till it was just a black claw. Thrax shrugged, "I hope I'm allowed to breath in there." he said sarcastically. Jones faintly smiled before speaking,

"There's another thing: they'll be escorting us there. And they'll probably have armed guards watching us at all times." said the immunity officer. Thrax promptly stared at the ground and shifted anxiously from foot to foot. He was sure it was a reasonable precaution, but it still hurt. It hurt to know that he wasn't trusted. He nodded solemnly towards Jones.

"They won't be guarding 'us'. They'll be guarding me." Thrax said pointedly. Jones shrugged but didn't deny it, for it was the truth. The red virus didn't seem so threatening anymore to Jones, he seemed...average, if not fastidious when it came to cleaning.

"I haven't told you something." Thrax spoke uncomfortably. Jones raised a brow and motioned for him to continue, "I can remember when I was born, but it's strange. I can see my mother clearly, but my father is so...shadowy. I can't see him or hear him, it's like he didn't want a son and that I was only a burden to him." Thrax spoke slowly, not sure about his host's reaction.

Jones was worried. Thrax was starting to remember and he was helping by taking him to the hypothalamus, but was it a good thing that he was regaining his memories? He must have been translucent to Thrax, for the red virus tried to smile reassuringly. The expression on Thrax's face was too close to the usual smirk that Jones could remember, and it only increased his worries.

"Don't stress over it. I shouldn't have told you, I'm just a burden to you guys too." Thrax muttered, turning around and walking away. He folded up his permit to enter the hypothalamus and slipped it into one of the deep pockets of his black trench coat. He walked into the kitchen just so that Jones wouldn't be able to see the troubled expression on his face. Thrax spent a few minutes counting the tiles on the floor and tried to think of anything else but his past. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to sleep now, if that girl would return and with her bring his memories. Thrax hardened himself. He needed to regain his memories and put his life back on track.

Thrax didn't want to talk to Jones so he spent his time the rest of the evening avoiding the white blood cell. He turned in early on the couch and fell asleep, if only to pass time. And the girl did return to his return his dreams:

**Thrax's Dream**

The youthful girl was dressed in a bright colored dress that swayed in a breeze that didn't exist. The colors around them were bright and continued to change. Thrax noticed that in his dreams he was as aware as when he was awake, but decided that it didn't really matter.

"So, what do you make of your parents?" she asked cheerfully. Thrax nodded,

"I couldn't really remember my father..." he started. She interrupted him quickly,

"His absence at your birth is explainable. I hope you didn't get the wrong impression of him. You'll learn of him in this next installment of memories." She said levelly, "For now, why don't you tell me what you thought of your mother?" Thrax smiled,

"She's beautiful." The girl grinned and laughed,

"What else?" she asked curiously. Thrax paused as he tried to choose the right words to express his feelings,

"She seemed so happy, and kind. And...well, so pure." he glanced down at the young girl questioningly. She seemed to be a bit more serious this time,

"She was pure hearted, and good-natured. It took someone special like her to actually know and love your father. She was quite the character." the girl explained.

"So, who are you?" Thrax asked casually. The young girl paused and smiled at him,

"One step at a time. You'll learn about me much later on." she said. She suddenly stared at him with a very serious expression on her face and spoke, "Know this, Thrax, your mother loved you too much. It would eventually lead to her downfall. And mine aswell. This is why you must be careful now, don't get too close to anyone beyond this world of dreams."

Thrax looked at her and cocked his head, confused. She sighed and her expression softened.

"Kneel." she commanded. Thrax did as told and she rested her hand upon his forehead again. "Remember your early childhood, those days seem distant now, but they affected you greatly." she said quietly. After a few minutes she lifted her hand and stepped back from him. Thrax slowly stood as he tried to make sense of the thoughts and pictures that flashed through his mind.

She looked up at him with genuine concern, "Are you feeling well?" she asked. Thrax shook his head back and forth,

"I feel kind of...weird." he mumbled, not knowing how to describe the clouded feeling in his mind. She smiled up at him and took his large hand in her comparatively smaller one.

"You'll be fine. You always come through. Now, I understand you're going to the hypothalamus today." she said levelly. Thrax nodded,

"Yeah. I guess that's where I started the fever..." he started to speak, but noticed her narrowing her eyes with worry.

"Is something wrong?" he asked questioningly. She nodded,

"Be careful, alright? Cells can act not as they normally would when frightened or threatened." she said calmly.

"Have a good time, and if you feel overwhelmed by new memories, just take a nap. I'll be here to help you." she said reassuringly. Suddenly, she seemed to perk up, "Oops, your host is trying to wake you up. I should've been paying closer attention. I'll see you again, but for now return to the world of the awake."

**End Thrax's Dream**

Thrax jolted awake suddenly and sat straight up. Jones jumped back, surprised. Thrax blinked repeatedly as he felt the memories he'd received while asleep begin to make sense. It was awful. He could remember cells taunting him, even viruses seemed to despise him. If their family hadn't been under the Virus Protection Program he wasn't sure what would've happened. But he now knew his father, it was that virus he'd read about earlier-Ion. Thrax looked down to his left claw. His father had taught him how to fight with it at a very young age. His mother had instructed him in hand-to-hand combat. What a childhood.

"You sleep like a log." Jones observed with a curious expression on his face. Thrax turned to face the white blood cell for a moment, then bent down and slipped his shoes on.

"Hypothalamus?" Thrax asked, sounding hopeful. Jones nodded,

"I've already ate, but I can wait for you to get some breakfast-" Jones started to say. Thrax interrupted him,

"Not necessary. Let's go." Thrax walked to the door of the apartment and waited for Jones to follow. The immunity officer did reluctantly and walked outside. Thrax closed the door quietly behind him, then followed Jones down the hallway. Drix was-apparently-still working and Jones had taken a vacation day. So Thrax got to ride in the front. He stared out the window as he passed by tall buildings that only got larger and more impressive as they got closer to the brain.

When they reached the brain stem they had to show their permits, then they got to go through. There were a bunch of more gates that they had to repeat the process for and Thrax felt his impatience rising. When they actually got inside the building three guards immediately started to follow them. They had a scientist escort them to the hypothalamus. Ten minutes later they were actually in the room.

The room was lit with a bluish light that came from the giant DNA strand infront of them. Counters surrounded the strand-which was in a cylindrical containment tube. Without thinking about it Thrax walked straight up to the strand and stared at it. Jones kept a few feet back though. Thrax almost reached out and touched the glass containment tube, but then he felt the eyes of the guards boring into his back. He took a giant step away from the strand and tried to appear non-threatening.

Still, he felt a smile-or was it a smirk?-spread across his features.

"It's beautiful." he said as he stared at the rotating DNA strand. Jones glanced at him worriedly. A memory hit Thrax suddenly,

_"Baby, you are lookin' fine today."_

Thrax heard it, but it was in his own voice. He reached up and touched his lips just to make sure he hadn't said that aloud.

He could see a faded image of himself, wearing sun glasses and with a chain wrapped around his right wrist, approaching the strand. His past self stuck his long claw into the class. Fire built up in the tube before the glass shattered in an explosion. He reached in and took a bead from the strand, and added it to the chain on his wrist. The DNA strand was glowing reddish orange now, and a clock that read 98.6 suddenly started to go up in numbers.

Thrax shook his head of this vision. Jones noticed and was about to say something, but Thrax beat him to it,

"I used to have a chain...right?" the red virus asked hesitantly.

"Yeah..." Jones responded nervously.

"Well what happened to it?" Thrax asked. Jones honestly didn't know, he'd given it to Leah so she could restore Frank, but after that he didn't know where it went.

"I don't know, but I'll see if I can find it." Jones finally said. Thrax seemed content with this answer and stood still, transfixed on the DNA strand.

"This place is very familiar to me, and I don't mean just because I've been here before in Frank. I've been to this room, in very many bodies." Thrax said slowly. Jones looked a little disturbed by that comment and Thrax mentally thrashed himself for saying something like that aloud. He lifted his left hand and stared at his broken claw. He could feel the heat rushing forward until his claw glowed a brilliant orange. Jones looked very concerned to say the least

The guards had noticed and were all aiming their weapons at him. Thrax willed the heat to leave and the orange glow faded away. The guards did not relax. Thrax felt uneasy at being in this place, and he wanted to go. He glanced at the blue clock and mildly frowned,

"This place is cold." he mumbled, "Let's leave. They don't want me here, and I don't want to be here." Thrax said quietly to Jones. With a last glance at the beautiful blue strand that rotated in the center of the room Thrax turned around and walked calmly out of the hypothalamus. Jones followed, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

"What should we do now?" Jones asked as they walked away. Thrax paused at a door marked 'Subconscious' and shuddered. He could almost feel some terrifying and ominous force inside the room. He heard the voice ring through his head again,

_"Whew...this cat was sick before I even got here."_

He walked quickly away and avoided speaking with Jones about it.

"I really don't know." Thrax finally said as he slipped gracefully into Jones' car. Jones thought it was amusing to compare that with how Drix had to stretch the car to get in and left the roof lop sided. Thrax looked thoughtful and Jones glanced at him occasionally.

"As long as there aren't lots of people where ever were going." Thrax concluded quietly.

"Do you have some kind of fear of crowds or something?" Jones asked. Thrax shook his head,

"Crowds have a fear of me." he corrected. Jones smiled weakly, but the effort was wasted on the red virus. Thrax wanted to speak to the young girl again and try to sort through the memories he'd gained while visiting the hypothalamus. Right now wasn't a good time, and there was no way he was going to ask Jones to take him back to the apartment just so that he could sleep.

"Does this place have a public library?" Thrax suddenly asked. Jones nodded and suddenly made a sharp turn.

"What are you looking for?" Jones asked curiously. Thrax shrugged,

"Some names and details on viruses." The red virus said leisurely. The immunity cop suddenly pulled into a parking lot and the car stopped with a final rattle. A large gray building was infront of them. It had the large words, 'Public Library of Frank' written on it. Thrax exited the car and walked slowly up to it, Jones was by his side. The silence inside the building was wonderful. Even if a cell did see Thrax they wouldn't say anything, because no one wanted to break the silence. The red virus really didn't know where to start, so he just chose a random shelf and looked at it. It was Juvenile Fiction, not what he wanted. He continued onward.

Jones could see that they could spend hours in the library and Thrax wouldn't notice. There was absolutely no way though that he was going to leave Thrax alone, so he followed him throughout the library. It was over forty minutes later when Thrax briefly paused to flip through an encyclopedia. He read the entry on 'Frank' just to learn more about the body he was in. It still wasn't enough information though. He went to the nonfiction section, maybe they would have facts here.

Jones tapped Thrax on the shoulder, and the red virus practically jumped. Jones motioned for Thrax to follow him, and he approached a computer. He shook the mouse to awake it, and the screen said that the session had timed out. Jones clicked the start new session option, and they were finally at the search menu. Jones typed in 'bird flu', changed the perimeters from author to title, and hit enter. Thrax watched over Jones' shoulder for the results. The very first title seemed like a good enough place to start as any, 'The Facts of Bird Flu'. Jones wrote down the author and number-the call number-that would appear on the book's spine; he handed it over to Thrax.

The red virus headed over to another shelf in the nonfiction section and started searching. About five minutes later he sat down in the hallway between shelves with the book in his lap. He wasn't sure what made this book so interesting, he was sure it was very dry reading to another cell. At the table of contents Thrax found a chapter called 'Hong Kong Chicken Flu'. He made sure to read that one first. Jones had found a chair to sit on that kept Thrax in sight, but at least he was comfortable. Thrax flipped through the pages delicately with his claws and read it thoroughly. An hour passed, and the red virus finally stood. He put the book back in it's place on the shelf and briefly stretched.

He went over to the computer and found that the session had already expired. He started another and typed in 'Ion the Virus'. Thrax remembered to switch the perimeters to title, and hit search. He got a lot of results that he didn't think looked promising, until he saw a title called 'The History of Viruses and Frank'. He scribbled down the call number and searched for the book. This is what he wanted. He found a very thick book with the title emblazoned upon it in gold letters. Unfortunately the book had been published two years ago, so it held no information on Thrax himself.

The book was organized by the viruses name alphabetically, so he flipped to the 'I' section. Thrax finally found the article on 'Ion the Virus'. It was only five pages long, but by the time Thrax finished it he was amazed. His father was very clever. He'd spread mass panic in the entire body by sending in a team of germs that stirred up trouble in the brain. They'd attacked random targets just to be a distraction. Meanwhile Ion had gone to the eyes and set some unique type of explosive,-Thrax made a mental note to look that up too-but Ion had been stopped. His plan had been thwarted and killed by Vac Jones. Thrax blinked as he made the connection...Jones.

He approached Jones who looked very bored sitting on his chair. Thrax laid the book infront of him and tapped the name Vac Jones with one of his claws. Jones' eyes widened and he took the book from Thrax. Jones took out his wallet and removed an expired library card. He walked to the reference desk and paid to have it renewed, a confused Thrax following. Jones checked out the book and headed for the exit, Thrax trailing behind him. The silence followed them even as they exited the library and entered Jones' car. They drove to the apartment in silence, speaking was forbidden. They walked quickly into the apartment and Thrax closed the door behind him. He leaned on it and let loose a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding.

"Was he your father?" Thrax finally got to ask. Jones handed Thrax the book over and nodded,

"Yes." he said simply. Thrax felt a surge of anger go through him and his broken left claw suddenly glowed bright orange. The red virus was seething, but he willed his claw to stop glowing. Really, it had the worse timing to suddenly start glowing like that. Thrax wished it would stop responding to his thoughts like that. Thrax flipped a page over in the book to the only picture of his father in the article.

"That was my father." Thrax said with a gesture to the picture, "There's been a rivalry between our families for a while now. This is the one body that we always have trouble with." Thrax muttered and shook his head in disappointment. Jones looked anxiously at Thrax and tried to find the right words to say. Thrax took the book and sat down on the couch. He flipped to the first page and started to read the whole book. Jones decided it was time to find out more about his own father so he walked off into his room. He dragged out his father's journal, sat down at his desk, and started reading.

Both of them remained buried in their books until Drix walked in. The red and yellow pill was surprised by the silence in the house. He noticed Thrax was completely immersed in a book so he didn't bother him. Drix walked over to Jones' room and noticed that his partner was buried in a book too. He wasn't so afraid to interrupt his friend though, so he spoke up,

"Hey Jones, what are you reading?" he asked quietly. Jones leapt up out of his chair and turned around.

"Don't scare me like that!" he finally responded to Drix, "And I was reading my father's journal." Drix raised a brow in question so Jones started to explain,

"Well, it seems that Thrax's dad was in Frank four years ago. And my dad was on the case..." Jones trailed off as he thought about his next words carefully. Thrax had been standing in the shadows of the hallway, but now he emerged.

"Vac Jones killed my father." he said quietly. Drix and Jones looked up at him surprisedly. Thrax had his vision glued onto the floor, but he walked up to Jones' desk and selected a report. It was the one on Ion.

"Ion the Virus was killed by an officer of immunity at the right eye." he continued to read aloud from the report, "His body was disposed of by cremation. How ironic." Thrax threw the report carelessly on top of all the others-breaking the alphabetical order. He sighed and brushed his purple dreadlocks from his face. Thrax didn't know what to do next. He waited for Jones or Drix to say something, but they kept silent too.

"I'm gonna take a nap." Thrax finally said and he walked from the room into the shadows of the unlit hallway. He lay down on the couch and closed his bright yellow eyes. He really needed some help with this, so he slept:

**Thrax's Dream**

The young girl looked up at him as he appeared in the dream-world. She looked at his expression,

"Something went wrong." she deducted. Thrax nodded and sat down cross legged in front of her. She sat down next to him too and glanced over at him.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked softly.

"Yeah. Ion, my father, was killed by Jones' father. Vac Jones. I don't know what to think or how to act or how to feel around them. And when I went to the hypothalamus I could hear this voice, and I saw myself breaking the DNA chain and starting a fever." Thrax said this very quickly, and felt relieved to have finally said it aloud to someone.

The young girl sighed, "Thrax, trust me. Your father was a jack-of-all-trades, but he had recently found great pleasure in blinding bodies. It was really the anguish that his victims felt that attracted him to this profession. To lose your sight is an awful fate. Everyone loses one...eventually." she said gently. Thrax shook his head,

"But why this body? Why did it have to be Jones' family? Why did I have to come here and start the cycle again?" he asked, sounding frustrated. The background suddenly changed completely. They were now sitting on grass, and there was a blue sky above them with fluffy white clouds dotted over it. A bright yellow sun cast it's warm rays upon them, and Thrax's black clothes soaked up the warmth.

"Because that is the way fate wanted it to be." she answered.

"So...I shouldn't think about...about..." Thrax started, but he looked down at the ground and wouldn't say anything after that.

"About avenging your father?" the young girl guessed. Thrax nodded, she was right of course.

"No, you should not." she replied. Thrax looked at her,

"How do you know so much? You're so young, but it's like you've been alive longer then me." Thrax spoke confusedly. She smiled up at him,

"I told you when we met. I'm a memory." she said mysteriously like that answered all his questions. Thrax laid back like he was going to make a snow angel and stared up at the clouds.

"Life is too complicated." he mumbled. She chuckled from her spot next to him,

"Don't worry so much. Just know that everything has a bright side. Sometimes it can be hard to find, but there's always a positive aspect to every situation. Would you like some more memories?" she asked suddenly. Thrax looked over to her,

"I don't know. You still haven't explained the ones I gained at the hypothalamus." he commented. She shrugged,

"Alright then. You were seeing something that had happened in the room previously. You know that the hypothalamus controls temperature. So you started a fever there by stealing a specific DNA bead from the strand." she explained. Thrax shook his head,

"There's something more...but I can't quite remember. I think I hurt someone, but I don't know who." he muttered. She rested a hand on his shoulder comfortingly,

"Things will make sense as time progresses. Now, would you like some more memories or not?" she asked again. She didn't know how much time she had left with him, and she needed to make it count. She wanted to be patient and encouraging, but it was always hard to talk to him like this. She hid her thoughts easily with a smile and watched Thrax carefully.

"Yeah, I'll take the memories." Thrax said hesitantly. She reached out her hand and touched the side of his head. They remained frozen in this position for a longer time then usual, and when she finally removed her hand Thrax suddenly gasped. Horrible, terrible, awful images floated through his mind. He sat up suddenly and his purple dreadlocks fell across his face like a curtain. One image in particular hovered in his mind, it was a black chain with only a few blue DNA beads in it. Different feelings surged through him: hatred and sorrow, joy and hopelessness, but most of all anger. The young girl reached across and hugged him. Thrax could feel his grasp on this dream-world weakening as he began to wake up. The last words he heard from the young girl were,

"You'll pull through this, you always do."

**End Thrax's Dream**

Thrax jolted awake. He fell off the couch. It was around midnight and Jones was sitting in the kitchen-lights dimmed so as to not disturb Thrax-doing paperwork. Jones stood up and walked out to the living room to see Thrax lying on the floor shivering. He immediately bent down and helped Thrax to sit up, leaning him against the couch.

"Are you alright? Nightmares?" Jones asked as he tried to calm the red virus. Thrax seemed to curl into himself and his voice was distressed when he spoke,

"The equivalent." he managed to say. Jones suddenly got a look of comprehension on his face,

"Memories...?" he guessed. Thrax nodded weakly, then silently started to cry. Jones could only stare, this was not what he expected when he decided to let Thrax stay at his apartment. Jones rested a hand on the red viruses shoulder to try to comfort him. Thrax seemed to shrivel away from the touch and tried to brush away any help. He was Thrax, he was self sufficient. Thrax tried to regain his composure and started to explain,

"They come whenever I'm asleep. They're horrible...the terrible things that happen always outweighed whatever good happened. So many friends hurt. So much prejudice..." Thrax suddenly seemed to anger, "Those stupid cells! Why couldn't they just leave us alone!?" he said loudly. The red virus then became grave, "I should've never happened. Even viruses hated me...feared me. Feared what I was capable of doing." he lifted his left claw and stared hard at the broken edges, "But I was ignorant...not knowing why I had been granted this kind of existence."

"What do you mean, 'I should've never happened'?" Jones asked, worry very clear on his face. Thrax looked grim and he shifted his yellow gaze to stare off into space,

"My mother and father were both powerful viruses. For them to marry and have offspring was forbidden...because I am the result. It's happened only a few times before in history, it always ended in the murder of the child. My father made it clear that wasn't going to happen, but some cells, germs, and even viruses did try."

"And your mother?" Jones asked. Thrax's mood only seemed to darken and he shook his head, not willing to talk about that very sensitive subject. The red virus clammed up then, and he was silent for a long time. Jones sat with him and tried to think of something to say,

"Was there anything good about growing up...or how much can you remember?" he asked. Thrax shrugged absently,

"I can remember up to when I was a young man so far, still learning the ropes about taking down bodies. And there was nothing good about growing up, except when it was finally over. Even while under the Virus Protection Program's protection it wasn't safe out there." Thrax explained.

"What kind of body were you in?" Jones asked, surprised that the VPP couldn't do a lot to help.

"The body of Peter." Thrax answered. Once again their conversation ground to an awkward halt. Thrax finally spoke up again after a while,

"It feels like I'm slowly slipping away every time I wake up. A little more of who I am now leaves...and I become Thrax the Virus. It's no wonder I made a career out of taking down bodies. It's the only life I've ever known." Thrax mumbled, "And once I've left and completely become Thrax...no one will be safe." he said this resolutely.

Jones felt a surge of panic go through him. 'No one will be safe' was very ominous sounding. Then again, it's not like they could ask Thrax to never sleep again so he wouldn't remember. He didn't know what to say to help, or how to act to comfort Thrax, he didn't know what to do.

"Jones, remember the chain. When did you last see it?" Thrax suddenly asked. Jones blinked, surprised. Thrax had just called him 'Jones', it was what the Thrax of the past had always called him. He tried to shake the worry from his mind and spoke,

"I gave it to Leah so she could restore Frank. She must've taken it to the hypothalamus, after that, I don't know where it went. I'll ask her in the morning." Jones replied. Thrax nodded, but didn't look happy at the delay.

"Do you expect me to go in their, wake her up, and ask her for it?" Jones asked, trying to lighten the tension. A ghostly smile formed on Thrax's face, ghostly that it seemed to be there one moment like a wisp of smoke, then gone the next.

"I probably would've." the red virus responded.


	4. Fire

**Chapter 4-Fire**

The following morning you never would've guessed how disturbed Thrax had been earlier. He had regained all of his composure and even seemed more sure of himself if anything. Thrax had insisted on coming with Drix and Jones. It really had been a very bad idea. Thrax only realized how idiotic he'd been when he felt panic rush through him at the sight of the building. 'FPD' was written on the doorframe, it looked more imposing then the enormous library had been.

Thrax worked his courage up and entered, following after Drix and Jones. Activity stopped completely as soon as the other officers inside the FPD saw Thrax. Even the chief in his office saw Thrax enter and was absolutely still. Thrax felt a peculiar enjoyment at this reaction, but ignored it. He stared at the ground and Drix hovered next to him protectively. He felt the usual irritation begin to build in him at Drix's presence, but knew that the pill just didn't want his coworkers to get the...wrong idea.

Jones entered the chief's office uncertainly. The chief was still staring at Thrax. The red virus could feel everyone's gazes boring into him and he stepped behind Drix to act as a shield. Jones noticed this and felt a bit angry that his coworkers didn't leave him alone. He approached the chief,

"I'm going up to the mayor's office, some..uh..paperwork to file up there." Jones thought off the top of his head. His chief finally seemed to break his trance and looked at Jones,

"Sure thing..." the chief said, furrowing his brow. Jones nodded and walked out of the office. As soon as he took one step in the direction of the door Thrax took it as a signal. The red virus literally ran out of the building, black trench coat flying behind him. Drix and Jones ran after him and found him already in the car, ready to go, by the time they caught up with him.

Thrax looked panicked. As Drix and Jones entered the car he seemed to retreat from them further. Jones didn't even buckle up. He turned in his seat and locked his gaze with Thrax's.

"What's wrong? I've seen you upset when people are staring at you, but that was panic." Jones spoke with a quizzical tone.

"They're..." he started, but Drix interrupted,

"Who's 'they'?" the cold pill asked.

"Everyone in that building. They're all...threatening." It looked like Thrax was about to add more, but he turned his head sharply and refused to speak. Jones had been very patient up till now, but he wanted his question answered.

"We're not leaving until we get a straight answer from you." Jones said confidently. The next moment Thrax was slipping out the window. Drix and Jones were already getting out of the car, but Thrax stopped them with his next words,

"I'll walk then. I can take care of myself on the streets, and it's better to walk alone then in the company of people who only wish to interrogate you." he said, then turned and started to walk away. Drix acted quickly and moved infront of him.

"Wait-we didn't mean to pry. Please, try to understand. It was just natural curiosity on our part, we'll let the matter drop." Drix looked pointedly towards Jones and his partner shrugged. Thrax clenched his hands into fists and felt anger building up inside of himself.

"It started when I entered that building...they're not just threatening. I hate them. I hate them all, they make me so angry. They deserve to burn!" Thrax suddenly said in a rush, bringing up his left claw swiftly to see it glowing again. Drix and Jones stared at him after his outburst.

"We have got to leave this place." Thrax said a moment later, strangely calm sounding. Jones cocked his head,

"Why?" he asked. Thrax simply motioned towards the FPD building.

"Look at the windows." the red virus said. Both Drix and Jones turned to see that the entire force was watching them through the windows.

"Please, let's just go." Thrax said and he returned to the back seat of the car. Jones and Drix were upset with their coworkers and sent a glare towards them before going back to the car. Jones didn't hesitate a moment, he started his car and immediately pealed off towards the mayor's office.

Thrax did not speak to them after that. It was an awful silence, and Drix and Jones could tell Thrax wasn't happy they'd questioned him like they had. Convincing the guards to let Thrax in the building wasn't easy either, but the matter was settled when the mayor himself came down to see what the fuss was about. It was mayor Colonic, Thrax remembered seeing something on the news about him. Leah was behind the mayor and glanced questioningly in Jones' direction.

Mayor Colonic motioned for the guards to stand down and invited the three visitors to come to his office. Thrax was like a dark shadow in the mainly blue shaded building, and everyone noticed him. But they also noticed the mayor and two immunity officers, so they figured the red virus was under control. When they reached Colonic's office Thrax was relieved to hear the door shut behind him. Only Colonic, Drix, Leah, Jones, and Thrax were in the room. No more cells staring at him, boring holes into his back.

"So, you must be Thrax." Colonic said levelly. Thrax felt an odd rush of adrenaline go through him: he shouldn't be here. He felt like he'd been caught. He was in trouble, cells of authority surrounded him. They were going to kill him! 'Get out of there, now!' his instincts screamed at him. Thrax looked down at the floor, his purple dreadlocks blocking his face from view. The red virus took a deep and shuddering breath before looking back up.

"The one and only." Thrax said with a confidence he didn't feel. Colonic didn't seem to notice anything wrong with Thrax as he continued to speak,

"Is there anything that I can help you with today?" the mayor was speaking directly to Thrax. Jones wanted to step in and handle it, but Leah shook her head the tiniest bit to say 'don't interfere'. Thrax was on his own with this one, and he didn't look too happy about it. It was just a simple question, but it meant more to Thrax. The red virus could feel the mayor's gaze boring a hole in him. He was fed up with it so he glared down at the mayor, venting the frustration he'd gathered with so many people staring at him on Colonic,

"What is this bodies problem?! Don't you know it's rude to stare?!" he suddenly shouted. He whirled towards Leah, completely ignoring the mayor now.

"Do you know happened to my chain? The black one? Jones said you had it last." Thrax asked, sounding far more polite to her then he had towards the mayor.

"Uh, I think it was taken back down to the FPD as evidence." she stumbled over her words momentarily. Thrax nodded curtly, then turned towards Jones and Drix,

"We're leaving. Come on." Thrax walked quickly out of the room without a glance behind him, somehow confident that Jones and Drix were following. As soon as the door to the mayor's office closed behind him he felt free. Relieved. It felt as though a burden had left him and his shoulders sagged.

"Thank goodness that's over." he said aloud. Jones and Drix watched him briefly before remembering how much he hated it when cells stared at him. Jones spoke,

"You could've handled that better." he said, sounding a bit disappointed. Thrax stopped and looked at them,

"Yeah, I could've. But you know what? I wouldn't have handled it any other way." the red virus said, a proud smirk decorating his features.

"Anyways, now we have to go back to FPD building." Jones said. Thrax looked panicked again, but quickly covered it.

"I think that chain is important. Nothing is going to stop me from getting it back." he said with certainty.

"Maybe it would be better if just Jones and I went in?" Drix suggested. Thrax quickly dismissed it with a wave of his claw.

"Forget it. I'm comin' with." he said. They were out of the building and in the car now.

"So where'd this newfound confidence come from?" Jones asked as they took off and headed in the direction they'd started.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna ride it for all it's worth." Thrax replied. His mind was centered on a specific goal: get the chain back. With his thoughts focused he found confidence that he could accomplish his task. They pulled back into the FPD parking lot.

"Even if you're coming in, you follow my lead, ok?" Jones asserted. Thrax shrugged. So what if the job got done by someone else? So long as he got his chain back. As they entered the building the cells inside only paused briefly to stare at Thrax, then returned to work. Jones went down a hallway that was dimly lit and entered a room labeled 'vault'. Drix and Thrax entered behind him.

The vault was large and had many shelves. On each shelf there was a silver box that varied in size. Some of the largest pieces of evidence were lying openly on the floor in a corner. To look through all of it though seemed an impossible task. There was so much stuff here.

Thrax felt an odd buzzing sensation in his head, and he turned to listen to it. It wasn't annoying, like the buzzing of a mosquito, but it was more like a call. He followed the sound till he opened up one of the small silver boxes, inside was his chain. The buzzing immediately stopped, replaced by another sound.

_"This here little DNA bead comes from a little girl in Riverside, California, didn't like to wash her hands. Took me three whole weeks. And this one, nice lady in Detroit, Mowtown - six days flat. And there's this old guy in Philly - I killed him in 72 hours. Yeah, I'm getting better as I go along, baby, but the problem is I never set a record - until my man Frank that is. I'm gonna take him down in 48 hours! Get my own chapter in the medical books!"_

Thrax wrapped the chain loosely around his right wrist and said nothing of the voice he heard. He stared hard at the DNA beads as if they held all the secrets of the universe. Then, with a familiar swagger, he returned to Drix and Jones' side. Judging by his silence they guessed he had remembered something, but they weren't going to disturb him.

Drix was going to stay at the FPD building, deciding that after all their running about today one of them needed to get some work done. Jones' decided to take Thrax back to the apartment, but the red virus countered him,

"Actually, I'd like to return to the hospital. Have this cast replaced, it's getting loose." Thrax said. Jones glanced at the cast on his left wrist, and was surprised to see it practically hanging off of Thrax's hand.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Jones mumbled as they walked out of the office and towards the car. Once they were out of the building Thrax looked relieved again beyond words.

"It wasn't exactly a priority." Thrax replied, sitting down in the front of the car. Jones sat next to him and started it up. At that moment Thrax could see his past self smashing his left fist into the dashboard, and having the car turn into a shiney red and orange speedster. He blinked away the image in momentary confusion, he didn't understand that memory at all.

So they went to the hospital, Dr. Golg was very surprised to see them. He was a friendly character and gladly helped out Thrax quickly. When they reached a room and the old cast was removed Dr. Golg was surprised. Thax's wrist looked healed-from a surface view anyways. He looked at it again with an x-ray image and found it completely healed. Except for one minor detail...

"Doctor, when will my claw grow back?" Thrax suddenly asked, sounding a bit impatient...or nervous? Dr. Golg looked a bit surprised by the question,

"I assumed it was like a fingernail and would grow back within a month to two months. But look at this new image," he gestured towards the x-ray picture that was up on a partially glowing piece of wall. It allowed light to shine through the partly transparent image so that it set off the contrast well. Dr. Golg didn't quite know how to describe it, but the left finger looked kind of screwed up. Not that those are medical terms, so the Dr. tried to find a way to say it.

"It would appear that your claw isn't just a fingernail. It is a part of you, and to us it is like one of our own fingers. Now, we can replace body parts that have been kept refrigerated within a certain period of time. But since what we're dealing with here is a bit different, I think we could fuse the broken part of the claw to the remnance of the claw." Dr. Golg explained.

"One problem: I don't know where the 'remnance of the claw' is." Thrax spoke with an edge of disappointment in his voice. Jones recalled pulling it from the eyelash when he had rescued Thrax.

"It's back at my apartment! I'll go get it!" Jones said, rushing off towards his car. Thrax hesitated, then decided just to stay at the hospital. Dr. Golg busied himself with something or other, but Thrax was quickly becoming bored. He spun his chain idly around in circles and started to hum the Fever song without realizing it. About twenty minutes passed before Jones came back, panting.

"Here it is!" the immunity officer said in a rush, pulling the long broken off part of the claw from his jacket. Jones passed it over to Thrax who fitted the remnance of his claw with the broken part that was still on his hand. They fit like puzzle pieces. Suddenly his entire claw glowed brightly and turned orange. The claw fused back together. In a moment it was over and Thrax felt oddly whole again.

Dr. Golg suddenly pulled out a pair of sun glasses and handed them over to Thrax saying,

"Here, you accidentally left these behind." Thrax put the dark glasses in his pocket and continued to watch his still glowing claw. He walked up to one of the counters and experimentally dragged his claw across it. It left a hot orange line that cracked the counter, then orange clouds puffed out of it. The entire counter turned red and remained very hot to the touch. Thrax smirked, then let the glow in his claw subside.

Jones was very worried. Thrax hadn't been much of a threat without his claw, but now he was. And he was starting to regain his memories. This was certainly dangerous for Frank, but he wanted to go through with it. To finish what he started that day when he saved Thrax's life.

"I suppose the only thing left for me to do now is get the rest of those memories back." Thrax mused as he examined his claw. With his claw intact Thrax had seemed to regain part of himself he'd been missing. Thrax resisted the urge to drag his claw down the hallway's wall as they left the hospital.

Jones drove Thrax back to the apartment, then left to return to work. Thrax knew he was being tempted to sleep, to try to get more information on this chain that he felt connected to, but he didn't want to rush into things. Like the young girl said: One step at a time. He could remember the drills his father had taught him with his claws, and he decided to try one. He pushed the couch away from the center of the living room to get more space.

He began with simple and quick slashes with his claw. They were followed by deft movements, like he was dodging an invisible enemy. Thrax began to practice kicks, slashes, and punches silently in the room. Time flew by when he wasn't paying attention. His actions became more complicated and faster. He slashed forward with his claw, spun and kicked swiftly, then pulled back as if to avoid a blow to his face, and finally he slashed with both his hands-raking his claws down his opponents face.

Thrax was tired since he'd been doing this for two hours now, so he moved the couch back to its origonal position. He pulled out the book 'The History of Viruses and Frank' and flipped delicately to the page where he'd stopped. He continued to read and spent the rest of the day learning about Frank. Jones and Drix walked into the aparment a while later and greeted him. Thrax could tell something was up quickly.

"Ok, we're switching apartments!" Jones anounced, "You're going to go stay with Drix a floor above for a few days. Then we'll switch again." he finished. Thrax twitched and looked a bit unhappy, but he stood up with his book and silently walked out the door. Drix followed him with one last nervous glance towards Jones. The white blood cell relaxed when the door was closed. Finally, Thrax was out of his hair for a little while.

Drix was getting increasingly anxious over Thrax staying with him. He could feel the tension building between them. A floor up they entered Drix's apartment. It was rather tidy, but not overly so. Jones' and Drix's apartments were a bit similar, and it was decided that Thrax would sleep on the couch-again. Silence existed in the room, neither of them were willing to break it.

Thrax noticed that the awful stench of wild cherry was greater here, and-though Drix didn't notice-he kept glancing towards Drix's canon arm. Thrax decided that sleep was definitely better then being awake with Drix, so he lay down on the couch without a word. Drix watched as the red virus dozed off and he felt his worries increase.

**Thrax's Dream**

Thrax looked about him and spotted the young girl quickly. She was walking towards him, a peculiar expression on her youthful face,

"You've found your chain, and regained your claw. You seem to be progressing faster then I expected." she said levelly. Thrax looked down at his chain and felt pride surge in him at the sight of it.

"What is so special about this chain. I feel so...connected to it." Thrax responded, sounding confused. She nodded as if this was to be expected,

"You've had that for a long time. You're sentimentally attatched to it, it houses your life's work." she explained. Thrax stood and looked down at the girl,

"My life's work?" he questioned. She smiled at him,

"Yes. Your collection. Each bead on this chain is a body that you killed. You were very proud of your record." she said. Thrax looked over the chain again, it seemed to be a bit more menacing now. Then he recalled the words he had heard earlier,

_"Get my own chapter in the medical books!"_

"Did I want to...get a chapter in the medical books?" Thrax asked hesitantly. She nodded and gazed up at him with shining yellow eyes,

"Yes, you frequently called it your record." she answered. Thrax could remember what else he had heard,

"I wanted to beat my 72 hour record. I wanted to take down Frank in 48 hours." he said. The young girl nodded again. She suddenly changed the subject,

"I understand you're staying with Drix." she put it out in the open.

"Yeah." Thrax mumbled. The young girl smiled up at him,

"And he makes you upset because...?" she wanted him to fill in the blank, but Thrax just shrugged. This didn't deter her cheerfulness so she answered her own question,

"Because he froze your claw and that made you very angry." she supplied. Thrax didn't seem to know that this was the anser himself, but his face lit up with sudden understanding.

"That's it. That's why." he said, but he couldn't remember Drix ever freezing his hand. He just knew it had happened.

"Ready for some more memories?" she asked, keeping the conversation going. Thrax glanced nervously towards her. Whatever confidence he'd had today, it was completely gone now.

"Yeah, I suppose..." he said, sounding uncertain. She shook her head slightly,

"You'd better sit down. This time it's going to be very harsh on you. I have to kind of hurry up and get you these memories, I don't have as much time as I'd like." she said gently. Thrax sat down and she placed her hand on his forehead. A full ten minutes passed before she removed her hand, concern written all over her youthful face.

"Are you ok?" she asked. Thrax just stared into space for a very long time. He didn't move, his eyes didn't blink, if not for the subtle movements of his chest she could've sworn he wasn't breathing. She was content to sit and wait for him to break his stupor though. With an idle thought she tweaked Thrax's perception of time in this dreamworld. It seemed as if hours could pass here, but in reality only a few minutes would have gone by. She knew that this knew set of memories included memories of herself, but she knew Thrax could take remembering. He was strong. Unlike herself.

She'd been a weak-and she thought herself to be worthless too-child since birth. Her mother had died in childbirth, but she had convinced herself she knew the real reason. Her mother had died of a broken heart, for only a week befor her birth her father had died. That had made her mother sad, and almost unwilling to live. Being a memory was certainly odd though, but she felt more at peace here then she had even when cradled in her mother's arms-shortly before she died. Practically no one knew she existed, and she'd liked it that way. Only the highest members of the Virus Protection Program realized that there had been a second forbidden child. No one really had time to learn about her at all though, because she kept moving along.

Thrax let out a long sigh. She watched him carefully but discreetly. The young girl knew all the things he must be seeing were frightening, infuriating, and even sad.

"What have you learned?" she asked softly. Thrax vaguely shook his head,

"I can't make sense of any of it. It's like all the pictures are blurred." he said. She nodded,

"They'll make sense when you wake up." she became more serious sounding, "Thrax. You have only one more visit to this place. The memories I give you next time will lead all the way up to coming Frank. When you learn of this..." she paused for a while, "I won't be able to help you. I won't see you again after that. I want you to promise me that you won't make a horrible decision though, alright?" she asked.

Thrax glanced towards her. She'd helped him a lot, maybe he could do this one thing for her?

"One more thing. When you wake up, you'll remember me. So I look forward to meeting you Thrax for the first and last time." she smiled a bit mishiviously, but Thrax appeared to be confused. She dismissed it though.

"I promise I won't make a horrible decision." Thrax suddenly said. She looked up at him curiously, then smiled,

"So, are you ready to wake up?" she asked. Thrax nodded absently,

"Wait a sec. How should I deal with Drix? I can't stand that pill and now I'm staying with him." Thrax asked. She smiled cheerfully,

"Drix is just as uncomfortable around you as you are around him. I'd try to stay friendly with them I suppose. Don't overreact around Drix just because he froze your hand. You were a very real threat and he was only doing as he saw fit." she said, sounding unnaturally wise again for her age. Thrx nodded,

"Ok. I'm ready to go back." he said slowly. She smiled and then nodded,

"Wake up!" she suddenly shouted, surprising Thrax just-but she seemed to be very amused-before he disappeared.

**End Thrax's Dream**

Thrax jolted awake. And the memories fell into place. Life just kept going downhill. Where was that silver lining when he really needed one? Thrax felt the urge to kill Frank rise up in him. It was what he always did. This body should burn. Thrax shook the thoughts away. He considered killing Frank to be a 'horrible decision'. Or at least a bad one. The thought did appeal to him though.

He looked up at the clock. It was seven in the morning. He felt like he needed sleep. Not so that he could speak to the girl, but just so that he could rest. He felt exhausted. Drix wasn't awake yet either it seemed. Thrax idly wondered just what to do now. Wait for the rest of the memories seemed like a good enough plan, if not a boring one. He reached down and pulled out the 'The History of Viruses and Frank'. He was halfway in the book now, it seemed like Frank had had more meetings with viruses then a normal body. Maybe he was just careless?

Thrax read for a while, and when he looked up he saw Drix moving about the apartment. The cold pill tried to offer a friendly smile, but Thrax didn't really react to it. Neither of them said a word. Moments passed of just staring at eachother, the unspoken words hovered in the air between them. Thrax finally broke the unnerving silence,

"Do I just stay here all day?" he put forth the question expressionlessly. Drix seemed relieved to have a conversation started,

"I think Jones had plans today, let's go ask him." Drix left the apartment. Thrax followed with his typical swagger. The red virus probably didn't even realize it though. They reached Jones' apartment quickly. The white blood cell glanced up at them from a paper he'd been reading, then set it down. Drix and Jones immediately started the conversation over again.

Thrax noticed little things that had changed overnight in the apartment. Jones had left his shoes in the living room, and there was a stack of papers on the couch-probably more reports. Thrax ventured into Jones' room to find he'd already start to clutter it up again. Papers were strewn on the desk, bed unmaid, jacket laying on the floor, and a few other minor things. Thrax started to clean without thinking about it.

It was a few minutes later when Jones entered, to find Thrax sitting on his bed and staring hard at the report on Ion. As soon as Thrax noticed the immunity officer's presence though he tucked the report back into the stack.

"We have a problem." Jones announced. Thrax didn't even look up. Jones continued anyways,

"After the entire scene at the mayor's office-" he started. The red virus stood swiftly and spoke over Jones,

"They're upset with me. So, what's it to be? Execution, inprisonment, 'banishment'? As if you could keep me in this forsaken place." Thrax said venomously, sounding surprisingly cynical. Jones ignored Thrax's comment and kept speaking,

"The mayor believes that it would be in Frank's best interest that when you regain your memories you must leave." he finished. Thrax shrugged,

"It's what I expected." he said casually. Jones just stared at him,

"How can you take it so calmly? I mean, you don't feel attatchment for this place at all?" Jones asked skeptically. Thrax could remember the young girl's words: Don't get too close to anyone. While he did feel grateful to Jones for helping him his anger towards immunity blinded him to any kind of friendship they might have had. Thrax reached into the deep pocket and pulled out his sun glasses. With delicate movements of his claws he slid them over his face.

"None, baby." Thrax said. Jones was worried, Thrax sounded like his old self. Thrax didn't seem to notice at all though,

"So what are my plans for the day?" the red virus asked. Jones blinked and shook himself a bit,

"Uh. Today. Well...I really don't know. What would you like to do?" Jones asked, obviously his talk with Drix had not gotten results. Thrax shook his head though and he grew somber,

"Can you tell me that your mayor would trust me enough to do whatever I'd like in this body?"

"What would you like to do in this body?" Jones countered. Thrax suddenly looked down and-even though his sun glasses covered his eyes-he felt the need to cover his facial expression.

"Honestly...it's like I just want to...forget it." Thrax turned completely away from Jones, shutting him out, "It doesn't matter what I want." he finally stated. Jones had had enough of Thrax keeping all these secrets to himself. He shot forward a hand, rested it tightly upon Thrax's shoulder, and spun the virus to face him.

"It matters. Cells here have something called compassion, and empathy. We can help you if you didn't brush us off like you were immortal and didn't need our help. Heck, I even started to get used to you! And that's saying a lot!" Jones said, sounding angry. Thrax stared down at him,

"Even if I told you my thoughts you would not understand them." the red virus observed mildy.

"No, I wouldn't. But I could try." Jones replied. Thrax shrugged Jones off again and made an effort to leave the room. Jones stepped in the way and stopped him. Thrax felt his blood boil angrily. He was naturally agressive, and coupled with his hatred of immunity, he was a foe to reckon with. Jones didn't realize how close to the edge his words had pushed Thrax.

With a swift but greatly softened blow Thrax punched Jones in the jaw. Like a shadow he slipped out the door and into the hallway. Drix was standing in the hallway...another roadblock. Jones knew how hard Thrax could kick and punch, and he also knew that Thrax hadn't intended on actually hurting him. But the game was afoot now, so to speak, and they needed to finish it. Jones emerged from the room. Thrax was trapped between them in the unlit hallway.

Panick, fear, and anger built up inside Thrax. Responding instantly his left claw glowed and heated up. Thrax got the eeire feeling that he was being hunted, and the hunters were closing in. He was going to get caught! They were going to kill him! Thrax leapt up into the air and soared over Drix, he came down ungracefully behind Drix and rolled into the living room. He immediately stood up though and tore off through the doorway.

"Thrax! Wait! Come back! Thrax!" he heard them both shouting. The red virus kept going, this was a panick induced run: Where you run faster then you ever thought possible, you practically fly. Thrax didn't really know why he was running away, only that it was somewhat natural to do so. It felt like he was on a time limit, and he had no time to spare to deal with Drix or Jones.

Thrax observed the buildings change about him as he ran through alleys, always trying to stay out of the public's sight. The buildings changed from housing to the working class, to a few run down looking factories, and then he finally reached the area he'd set out to find: the warehouse district. Each warehouse was old and falling apart. Whatever they were built out of-sometimes it was hard to tell-was graying and had brown moss growing over it. He darted into the tallest looking of all of them.

He finally stopped and listened for footsteps behind him, there were none. For the next five minutes or so all he heard were his own gasping breaths. Finally he'd calmed down enough to look around his surroundings. His shoulders sagged, he was exhausted. But he was not willing to sleep. He noticed a stair case in the corner of the room and he climbed up it. To his suprise it led to another floor, with another staircase. He kept climbing and climbing and climbing, until he reached the top of the building.

He walked out to the edge and stared around himself. The lighting was a rich red and orange color, it cast dark scarlet shadows on all the buildings, and lit up some of the smoke that the factories produced with a bright orange glow. The entire scene was rather beautiful actually. Thrax felt himself relaxing as he calmly observed what he could see.

Thrax paused and thought about what his running away might have started. He wondered if Jones and Drix were looking for him, or if they figured he'd come back. He wasn't sure what he'd do either to be honest. Even with most of his memories back he still felt uncerain and unstable. It was that simple absence that bent him off kilter. He sighed deeply and idly spun his chain around in circles.

"So the question is where do I go now?" he asked aloud. He found that talking to himself was quite normal and helped to order his thoughts.

"If I go back to Drix and Jones they'll probably apologize...even though I hit Jones. It wasn't hard, I mean, I barely even touched him. If I stay here and sleep...then I'll remember everything..." Thrax paused for a long time. Slowly, a smile spread across his face, "With my memories back I'm sure I'll know what to do." he assured himself. So he decided to stay where he was.

Thrax stood there for hours and watched as the red and orange lighting turned darker. First it turned to a gorgeous scarlet color, then it changed to a dark purple. Slowly the purple lighting became darker and darker, till it was dark and black. Thrax still stood there, watching lights turning on in building far, far off in the distance.

Finally he removed his coat and rolled it up to form a pillow. He disreguarded any consequences of the action and laid down, choosing to sleep on the roof.

**Thrax's Last Dream:**

He looked about himself in surprise. Where once had been beautiful colors in numerous patterns was something entirely different. It was dark here. Dark and frightening. He was standing near the edge of a cliff. The ground beneath his feet and all around him was hard and rocky, even the rocks were dark brown and black. Over the cliff and below was an ocean. It's deadly black waves crashed into the base of the cliff with no mercy. Seagulls were on the ocean, bobbing up and down with each wave. He was surprised to see the young girl standing right on the edge of the cliff.

"Thrax. We have no time to talk, sit down." she said, turning to face him. The look of seriousness and anxiety on her face made Thrax hesitate and wonder what was wrong.

"Now!" she yelled. Thrax literally fell to the ground. She smiled sorrowfully and apologized. She walked up to him and pressed her cool little hand against his forehead. Barely a minute passed before she removed her hand. Images and pictures flashed through Thrax's mind.

Suddenly the ground split infront of him. Thrax scrambled backwards, to see that the young gril had stayed on the other side of the fissure. He was about to simply leap over the crack in the ground when it split even wider. He considered opening up his trench coat and flying over to her, but she suddenly yelled to him,

"Don't bother. It really doesn't matter. I was a memory to begin with...I'm not real." she said, sounding very self demeaning. Thrax looked angry as he spoke,

"You're real enough to me!" he shouted back to her. She smiled at him sheepishly,

"You're a smooth talker though." she said sweetly. The two locked yellow gazes, and a slow smile spread across Thrax's features. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile. The ground ripped further apart and the sudden jolt made them both stumble a bit.

"This world of dreams...it's falling apart. You no longer need my help." she said, sounding serious again. Thrax shook his head,

"I wish...I mean...I wouldn't mind if all my dreams were this way. Do you have to leave?" he asked, sounding unhappy. She waved her hand slowly. The ground split beneath her and she was suddenly in open air; falling. Thrax shouted for her and considered flying to her anyways, but something held him back. With an odd smile on her face she shouted up to him-even as she fell towards the black ocean's wrath,

"Goodnight, Big Daddy Thrax."

**End Thrax's Last Dream**

Thrax leapt upwards and found himself standing on the edge of the roof. He bent down and picked up his trench coat he'd used as a pillow. It was still night, but what better time for a creature like him to roam? He knew exactly where to go aswell.

He spread his trench coat out and leapt off the roof, gliding as far as he could go before finally landing. He ran the rest of the way, concealed easily in the shadows. When he reached Jones' apartment he was surprised to find the door unlocked. It must've been unlocked in case he came back in the night. Thrax smirked and walked in. Jones was asleep in a chair at the kitchen table. The red virus glanced at the clock, it was four in the morning.

Thrax walked into Jones' room and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. It was hard to write with his claws, but he made do. He left the sheet of paper infront of Jones. Then he silently slipped out the door and out of the apartment building. Thrax wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing...maybe he should've just killed Jones while he had the chance. He dismissed the thought absently.

Thrax walked down a dark street. Only a few dim street lights were on, their blue lights casting odd and eerie shadows everywhere. Water had collected in the lower parts of the uneven street and reflected the light. There was the smell of dampness, night, and the feel of stillness. And the presence of silence. Silence that always takes over when all other things are asleep. The black blotch that was Thrax walked down the street, and out of sight. His steps echoed and as he splashed through a murky puddle drops flew up into the air. Each drop caught the blue light and distorted it. Thrax's foot steps faded away into the distance. Leaving silence to reclaim the street.


	5. Epilogue

**Chapter 5-Epilogue**

Jones woke up late. Very late. The chief was going to thrash him for being this late, and he wondered why Drix hadn't woken him up earlier. He'd been up late, seeing if Thrax would come back. He hadn't apparently. Or if he had he was staying with Drix. That was when his eyes caught hold of a piece of paper in front of him. He picked it up and read it,

_Hey Jones. I've got my memories back, and even though I still hate your guts I'd like to say thanks. I could've killed you when I returned to the apartment, but I didn't. On a more practical note I want you to keep your apartment clean, and remember to return that book from the library: 'The History of Viruses and Frank'. All debts have been repaid._

_Thrax the Virus_

Jones set the paper down in wonder. He looked at the clock again. It was already noon. He decided it just wasn't worth going in today. He took the piece of paper and went into his room. He picked his jacket up off the floor and put it in the right drawer of his dresser. He put the paper on his desk and then flopped down onto his bed. He was asleep, a dreamless sleep. The sleep that only those that are exhausted beyond thought can sleep.

And somewhere, deep in the currents of a black, cold, eerie ocean that mercilessly through itself onto a broken cliff face: a young girl named Iona smiled.

**The End.**


End file.
